Keith Barton is a Consultant in the Glaucoma Service at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and Honorary Reader at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology. He qualified in Medicine in Belfast, Northern Ireland, having also obtained an intercalated First Class Honours BSc in Medical Microbiology. Dr Barton completed his residency training at Moorfields Eye Hospital and fellowship training at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine after which he was appointed to the Glaucoma Service at Moorfields in 1996, becoming director in 2005 for 6 ½ years.
His main clinical and research interest is the surgical management of glaucoma, especially uveitic and other secondary glaucomas. He has a particular interest in the use of Aqueous Shunt Devices and has been an investigator and steering group member of a number of internationally renowned trials, including the Tube versus Trabeculectomy and Primary Tube versus Trabeculectomy Studies. In addition he co-chairs the Ahmed Baerveldt Comparison Study and is a member of the trial management committees of two UK government funded surgical trials, the Lasers in Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertentsion (LIGHT) Study and Treatment of Advanced Glaucoma (TAGS) Study. Dr Barton has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, as well as reviewing for 17 ophthalmic journals. In 2014 he became Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Ophthalmology and is an editorial board member of 3 other journals. He has been visiting professor at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Florida, University of North Carolina, University of California, San Diego and has served as Hong Leong Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore from 2011 to 2014.
Dr Barton has been invited to lecture on every continent. Noteworthy invitations include the American Glaucoma Society (2013), the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Glaucoma Subspecialty Day (2002, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2015), the Yale Glaucoma Symposium (2009), the French Glaucoma Society (2015), the German Ophthalmological Society (2003, 2006 and 2011) and the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists in 2009. Dr Barton also organises and runs glaucoma educational symposia which have attracted significant acclaim, including The Glaucoma Galaxy – A Hitch-hiker’s Guide (2007) and the Moorfields International Glaucoma Symposium (annually from 2008 – 2013 and 2015).
Dr Barton has been active in charitable work. Since 2012 he has chaired the International Glaucoma Association, a UK-based, patient-centred charity. Formerly a keen runner who has completed 5 marathons, including Boston, he has put his energy into raising money for Moorfields Eye Charity and the International Glaucoma Association through sporting activities including two 100 mile cycle rides. In 2004, he was introduced to charitable work in Africa by Don Budenz, and became involved in charity-run clinics in Ghana, providing clinical care and also as an investigator in the Tema Eye Survey, a population-based study that reported a high prevalence of glaucoma in Ghana.
How We Met
Kuldev and I first met during ARVO 1996 when I was still a corneal fellow at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. I had befriended Don Budenz, who had recently joined as faculty in the Glaucoma Service. Don had invited myself and my wife to perhaps the first of what was to become an annual institution; the famous ARVO parties that Don and Sue Budenz hosted every year at their house in North Miami. It was in Kuldev’s car on the way to the very last of these parties in 2012, 16 years later and just before ARVO forsook Fort Lauderdale, that we hatched the concept for what would (four months later to the exact day) become the Ophthalmology Futures European Forum 2012.
Somewhere in between we grew to know each other better: we would frequently meet at TVT study investigator meetings at both ARVO and AAO from 2002 onwards. Kuldev rose to stardom at the forefront of every controversy in glaucoma, challenging mythology and flaky theory. His articles often had witty titles such as: “Anti-metabolite application: Science or Voodoo?” and “Target Pressure – the ophthalmologist’s Holey Grail”.
Our friendship was reinforced when Kuldev kindly invited me to speak at AAO glaucoma subspecialty day in 2002 when he was program director, which for a European was a great honour.
Kuldev quickly became an international opinion leader in glaucoma and was often a speaker at European Glaucoma Society congresses, notably in Berlin in 2008 when he surprised me after I had finished delivering a long-winded monologue on tube implants to a completely packed and pitch-dark room. The usual request for questions was met with absolute silence, disturbed some moments later by a disembodied voice piping up from the very back in the dark with a penetrating question on my technique; Kuldev.
When I got in to the car with Kuldev at Fort Lauderdale to drive to Don and Sue’s house in North Miami yet again in 2012, I didn’t think that I would end the ride with a long term partnership but working with Kuldev on the Ophthalmology Futures Forums is a delight. He is an inspiration in terms of his endless supply of fantastic ideas and enthusiasm, and his fast, clear thinking. The whole team thoroughly enjoys working with him.
We are now looking forward to our 5th Ophthalmology Futures Forum in Barcelona, which we hope will be an exciting meeting. Kuldev now brings his witty titles, as well as his business acumen, extensive high level connections and keen eye for what topics are hot and what is likely to become the next “big thing” in ophthalmic innovation to Ophthalmology Futures.